Page:Mexico in 1827 Vol 2.djvu/228

214 both to the Capital, and to the Llānŏs, where a formidable Insurgent force was organized during the Civil War, it was transferred frequently from one party to the other, never remaining long in the possession of either, but equally maltreated by both. It will require many years of tranquillity to obliterate the traces of this period of universal suffering.

As usual, on entering the town, we found a dinner provided for us at the house of the Alcalde, of which we were forced to partake, though we regretted a delay, which retarded our arrival at Săn Jūān dĕ Tĕŏtĭhuăcān, (where we slept,) until after dusk, and consequently prevented us from visiting the Mexican antiquities in the vicinity of that place. These ancient monuments consist of two immense pyramids, dedicated to the Sun and the Moon, truncated, as all these pyramids are, and considerably defaced both by the hand of time, and by the fanaticism of the first conquerors, who seem to have left nothing undone in order to destroy every memorial of the primitive religion of the country. Such, however, is the solidity of these structures, that it has not been found possible to complete their destruction. They stand at some distance from the road, and it was nearly dusk when we passed them; but seen even thus, there was something imposing in the enormous size of these masses, which rise conspicuous in the middle of the valley, as if to testify of ages long gone by, and of a people whose power they alone are left to record. Reflections such as